Customers with cargo bound for or currently sailing on vessels calling Belgium ports, as well as customers with other Belgium port activities or delivery/receipt operations, should be aware that Unions and organized labour groups have planned a series of strikes and protests against various sectors of the Belgium government. Port operations are part of the protests, and some port activity is still sure to be affected.
On November 24 in Antwerp and on December 1 in Zeebrugge, trade union strikes and protests froze operations at the ports. As a result, public experienced full port closures and some slight sailings delays. The next scheduled strike is a full national strike to be held this coming Monday, December 15, affecting all ports in Belgium.
We expect that all port operations will be halted for at least a 24-hour period on December 15 in both Antwerp and Zeebrugge.